After the autumn rains, winter arrived.
The north wind howled, and the border regions were even colder.
Song Yanqing ordered someone to send Lu Qiqi two thick cotton quilts and a white fox fur cloak.
Lu Qiqi had already put away the tiger skin she was using as a cushion and replaced it with a cotton quilt.
The cotton quilts are soft and fluffy; one is just right for both the mattress and the blanket.
Last night, Lu Qiqi carefully put away the roster and made up her mind to tell Lu Yao the truth.
When she returns to Luzhou Prefecture, she will move Chen's grave to the back mountain of Laobing Village for burial.
At that time, she will build a cenotaph for Lu Dashan next to Chen's grave, and he can burn incense on the back mountain every Qingming Festival.
After a good night's sleep, Lu Qiqi peeked her face out from under the covers, took a deep breath, and then exhaled.
A thin layer of white mist came into view.
Seeing this, Lu Qiqi couldn't help but shrink back.
Winter has arrived overnight, it's so cold!
She writhed like a maggot in the blankets, reluctant to get out of bed.
But when she heard the noise outside the tent getting louder and louder, she stopped staying in bed.
She got up, dressed, washed up, put on the red cloak that Song Yanqing had given her, took a deep breath, and walked to the tent curtain.
After preparing herself mentally, she lifted the tent flap and went outside.
It's so cold!
As soon as she took a step outside, Lu Qiqi wrapped her cloak tighter around herself.
But the north wind was biting, and with the rain that had fallen all night, the ground was damp, making the cold wind even more biting.
"Take all of these to the city gate."
"Send the one on the left to Dongying."
“Send the one on the right to the West Camp.”
Hearing the sound, Lu Qiqi looked over and saw An Yi directing the soldiers carrying the boxes.
Lu Qiqi had seen these boxes before; they were the ones kept in the Feng family's storeroom.
Presumably, Feng Yu'er noticed the weather was getting cold and sent over the finished sheepskin coat ahead of time.
Lu Qiqi walked to the front of the commander's tent and asked An Yi's back, "Are these all sheepskin coats?"
Upon hearing the noise, An turned around, bowed, and said, "Yes, these are all sheepskin coats that Miss Feng ordered to be delivered early this morning."
I never expected winter to arrive so suddenly this year.
Miss Feng instructed her subordinate to tell the village head that she would have the remaining sheepskin coats made as soon as possible.
Feng Yu'er's rapid growth is obvious to all. Lu Qiqi nodded, "Yu'er is busy making sheepskin coats, which can only keep the city gate guards warm."
The army of tens of thousands of soldiers was delayed in receiving the grain and winter clothing transported from the Great Yu Kingdom.
"An Yi, have you heard the news?"
An Yi thought for a moment and said, "An Jiu sent word earlier that food supplies and winter clothing have been prepared."
They would transport the grain and fodder of the Great Yu Kingdom to the border town along the waterways.
However, the waterway is different from the area outside the pass, and it will inevitably cause delays.
There was nothing that could be done about it, and Lu Qiqi understood the reasons very well.
Taking the waterway is the safest method, since transporting large quantities of grain from the grasslands would be too conspicuous.
This is like a piece of fat meat hanging in front of the door.
If she were a Tartar, she would find it hard to resist the temptation to lead her troops to seize grain and return to her own camp.
Lu Qiqi's voice reached into the tent.
Hearing the commotion, Song Yanqing picked up the cloak beside him and went out of the tent.
The cloak enveloped Lu Qiqi, and she instantly felt much better.
After sniffing, she turned to look at Song Yanqing.
Before she could speak, Song Yanqing had a stern face. When he saw that her nose was red from the cold, he even glared at An Yi.
He said, “I have already asked Nineteen to prepare food for you. The weather is changing too fast. You can’t stand being out like this. Come inside with me and warm up.”
Lu Qiqi hadn't originally planned to stay outside the tent for long.
The weather was so cold that she wished she could go into her spatial dimension and wait until winter was over before coming out again.
When Song Yanqing came out to look for her, it reminded her of when she was a child and got lost at the foot of the mountain. In the end, she had to grit her teeth and return to Mount Emei on her own.
It was the first time she had ever experienced such a subtle feeling—that someone had come to visit her in winter.
A feeling of warmth spread from the bottom of my heart to every part of my body, making me feel warm all over.
After the two returned to their tent, Song Yanqing's complexion returned to normal, just as Lu Qiqi's flushed face brightened with a smile.
Lu Qiqi didn't pay attention to the small details; she only assumed that Song Yanqing, like her, disliked winter.
A charcoal fire was burning inside the tent, placed right next to a low table, with a book beside it.
Lu Qiqi untied her cloak, sat down at the low table, and picked up a book that hadn't yet been closed.
It turned out to be the storybook she hadn't finished reading. This discovery felt like she had caught Song Yanqing red-handed.
She waved the storybook in her hand and said, "I didn't expect you to like it too. Tell me, who is your favorite character in the book?"
Caught red-handed, Song Yanqing coughed softly, turned his face away, and avoided looking at Lu Qiqi's questions.
Watching Song Yanqing's hasty retreat, Lu Qiqi seemed amused and chuckled softly.
Lu Qiqi casually flipped through a storybook at the low table. When she turned her head to look at the brazier, she remembered something.
She turned her gaze away from the storybook and looked at Song Yanqing, "The weather has suddenly turned cold, and the soldiers in the army have not yet received their new winter clothes."
Have the soldiers' charcoal been prepared?
Even with winter clothes, without charcoal, the winter would still be unbearable.
Just as Lu Qiqi was saying this, Shijiu, carrying a food box, lifted the curtain and walked in.
Nineteen smiled and said, "Don't worry, village head, the charcoal has been prepared long ago."
The snowfall in the border town has been getting heavier and heavier in the past two years. This year, as soon as the rainy season ended, the prince ordered people to burn charcoal.
Firewood for winter has also been prepared long ago.
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